The footsteps grew clearer and clearer.
Tap... tap... tap...
Vera stood rigid in the middle of the hallway. The large mirror in front of her still reflected her image, but the little girl who had appeared earlier was gone. Only the reflection of her own face remained, pale with fear.
She clutched the old book tightly.
“Who’s there?” Vera shouted.
There was no answer.
The footsteps stopped right at the end of the stairs.
Then someone emerged from the darkness.
Vera held her breath.
“Dad...”
The man stood there, staring at her with an unreadable expression. His hair was already streaked with gray, but Vera still recognized him. He was the father she had known all her life.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said quietly.
Vera didn’t believe him right away.
“Dad... what really happened in this house?”
The man fell silent.
That simple question changed his expression.
“I knew you’d find out everything someday.”
“So all of this is true?”
Vera’s father lowered his head.
“You’ve met her?”
Vera gripped the book even tighter.
“Who is she, really?”
Her father stepped closer.
“Don’t go near her again.”
“Why?”
“Because she isn’t what you think she is.”
Vera glared at him.
“Everyone keeps saying the same thing. But nobody’s willing to explain anything.”
Her father remained silent for a long time.
“You have the right to know.”
He looked toward the empty bedroom behind Vera.
“Twenty-five years ago, our family went through something we could never forget.”
“I know. It was about Vera disappearing.”
Her father looked shocked.
“You already know her name?”
“She told me everything.”
Vera’s father’s face filled with concern.
“She’s lying.”
Vera shook her head.
“I don’t know who’s telling the truth.”
Her father drew a deep breath.
“Your mother and I once had a daughter named Vera. She was our only child. One night, an accident happened in this house. Little Vera disappeared.”
“And then?”
“We searched for days. Eventually, a little girl was found near this house.”
Vera stared at her father.
“That girl was me?”
Her father slowly nodded.
“When we found her, she said her name was Vera. She knew everything about our family. She knew our names, our habits, even memories only our child could have known.”
“So you believed she was me?”
“Yes.”
“Then what about the other Vera?”
Her father looked toward the dark hallway.
“That’s the part we could never explain.”
Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from behind them.
“Because they never wanted to accept the truth.”
Vera and her father turned around.
The woman with the same face as Vera stood at the end of the hallway.
“I’m not lying.”
Vera’s father looked furious.
“You should never have come back.”
The woman smiled bitterly.
“I never left. You’re the ones who threw me away.”
Vera stood between them.
“Stop!”
They both fell silent.
“I want to hear everything. From the beginning. No more secrets.”
The atmosphere grew quiet.
At last, Vera’s father sat down in the old chair near the stairs.
“There’s one thing we never told you.”
“What?”
“Little Vera wasn’t the only one who disappeared in that accident.”
Vera knitted her brows.
“What do you mean?”
Her father looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“Someone caused it all.”
A strong gust of wind suddenly blew in through the window.
The woman who looked like Vera stared at her father.
“Tell her who it was.”
Vera’s father fell silent.
“You know who did it.”
“Who?” Vera asked.
Her father slowly raised his head.
“The person who lived with us for years.”
Vera felt her body go rigid.
“Who?”
Her father looked toward the bottom of the stairs.
“Your grandma.”
Vera fell silent.
“Grandma?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
Her father lowered his head.
“Because your grandma believed there was something that could replace the missing child.”
Vera didn’t understand.
“What do you mean, replace her?”
The woman behind her answered in a soft voice.
“She did something that should never have been done.”
“What?”
The woman looked at the large mirror in the hallway.
“She created a new Vera.”
Vera stared at her reflection.
Her heart pounded.
“You mean I...”
The woman nodded.
“You’re not simply a child who was found.”
Vera slowly backed away.
“What am I?”
No one answered.
Because suddenly, Grandma’s voice echoed from downstairs.
A voice that should never have been possible.
“Don’t listen to them, Vera.”
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Grandma appeared beneath the stairs with a gentle smile.
But this time, Vera noticed something different.
Grandma’s shadow on the floor wasn’t following her movements.
“Grandma...”
The old woman looked at Vera.
“You finally know.”
Vera felt ice run through her entire body.
“Who am I, really?”
Grandma smiled.
“You’re the reason this house is still standing.”
Then the lights in the house went out.
In the darkness, Grandma’s voice sounded closer and closer.
“And you still don’t know the most important part.”
“Because the truth is...”
The voice paused for a moment.
“...I never wanted to create you.”
When the lights came back on, Vera saw something that left her speechless.
An old photograph hung on the living room wall.
A family photo.
And in that photo...
There were three Veras.